Better Termite Control Through Construction Methods

There’s only one thing better than having your home fully treated with natural termite control methods to be repellant against termites: only paying for it once. When you hire an exterminator to protect your home from termite damage, he can’t truly guarantee that termites will not penetrate the barriers or survive his eradication treatments (and a good exterminator will let you know this). What’s more, he’ll have to come back for monthly or bi-monthly termite inspections to be sure that termites aren’t finding a way past the barrier. This costs money.

Understanding of how termites cause damage has given rise to these new construction materials:>
Termite treated wood products
ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary)
ACQ is a chemical compound but commonly refers to a piece of timber treated with the chemical. Technically speaking, ACQ is made up of a copper and quaternary ammonium compound. In lay terms, this means that fungus is killed before it can grow, and termites don’t mess with it; meaning that at least the framing of your home is safe from termite damage. However, many carpenters don’t like working with treated wood inside the house: so while the framing is safe you still have to be sure that termites aren’t infesting with routine inspections.
CBA (Copper Boron Azole)
This chemical allows for direct wood to ground contact while still protecting from termite damage.
Borates (Borax, boric acid)
Borates are one of the most popular “natural termite control”—also called “least toxic” termite control—in the market. They bear many names, from boric acid to borax, and more, and are a largely misunderstood chemical substance. Some fanatical environmentalists have pushed the product as an alternative to pesticides so hard that they began lying, saying that there were no dangers associated with the product. However, U.S. Borax (the largest manufacturer of the product) has issued several press releases warning the public that the product contains arsenic, a known carcinogen. In a strange turn of the tables, those same environmentalists claim that boric acid has so little arsenic as to be insubstantial, a dead ringer for dozens of corporate comments let slip during similar attacks from environmentalists.
The truth about boric acid is that it is one of the least toxic products of termite control available; however, the widespread use of it throughout the household should not be condoned, as excessive epidermal contact and inhalation can lead to poisoning.
In this instance, borates are chemically bonded to the wood, making it very difficult for termites to cause any damage to it. Whether you want to call it “natural termite control” or “least toxic termite control”, it works.
Termite control is simpler, safer, less expensive when prevented from the start
Concerning the prevention of termite damage, termite control methods—natural or otherwise—and all other topics in this site, only one message need be remembered, and you will find it repeated throughout these pages: No matter how many precautions you take, nothing ends the need for routine termite inspections performed by a licensed professional. For best effectiveness, be sure to have a local termite control provider inspect and apply preventative termite control solutions regularly.